| What do you need to do to bring new life to safety meetings? |
As we settled into our seats for the air trip back from the head office safety meeting, the explanation of the safety features and emergency features began.
Contributed by Roger Stevenson
In keeping with my fellow passengers, I was paying scant attention, when I observed a small boy in the seat across the aisle. As the flight attendant explained that seats are flotation devices, he looked sharply between his legs. He followed attentively as she explained the oxygen masks, and he craned his neck to identify the emergency exits she pointed out.
I looked at my fellow passengers—all seasoned travellers, no doubt. Not one of them heard a word the attendant said. It occurred to me that in a real emergency just one of us—that small boy—would be able to direct us to the exits. I shifted in my seat and
tried to show more attention to the demonstration. I also gave
my reaction—and that of my fellow passengers—a little thought.
My first reaction was: How impolite! Here
was the pleasant flight attendant giving a demonstration, and everyone was blatantly ignoring her.
Then I thought some more.
Impolite?
Crazy is a better word.
We were being told how to save our lives, and nobody really cared!
Then we took off, flew, landed, and all survived.
Let's face it: the same safety information year after year can seem tedious—even boring. But it is vitally important. What can we do to win everyone's active attention in safety sessions?
Here are some ideas:
Add a graphic dimension to what you are presenting
Remind people sharply of what we are protecting.
For a meeting on hearing safety, play a recording of a high pitched whine. That's what damaged hearing can sound like. Or hand out ear protectors. Insist everyone dons them, and then start talking softly. That's what conversation can sound like to someone whose hearing is damaged by exposure to percussion noise.
For eye safety, hand out eye patches, and challenge participants
to assess their field of vision with one eye only. Or ask your local Institute for the Blind to give you some examples of braille, and challenge your team to try to "read" the bumps.
For hand safety, ask team members to tape three fingers together, to sense what it is like to lose fingers.
"Safety Shared"
At the start of the meeting ask participants to report something they have done to work safely, to protect an associate, or to reduce a hazard since the last meeting. In my experience, if people know they are going to be challenged about their safety responsiveness, they think about it beforehand, and go out of their way to find a safety story to share, or a safety suggestion to contribute.
This simple awareness booster, "What have you done for safety?" helps drive home an important concept. Employees learn that safety can be discussed in the same terms of achievement as productivity, efficiency or profits. To add interest and increase participation, count and report to those present, the number of safety stories offered per meeting. Challenge them to offer more.
Call for action through a "safety promise card"
Below is a "safety promise card" for involving people in a joint commitment to actively promote a safe behavior. For added interest, invite the participants to discuss and choose a suitable commitment arising from the safety topic of the day. The more involvement and personal choice offered, the better each individual will feel about
the process.
Encourage each person to complete a card and to sign and
date it. Assure them that signing the card is a personal commitment, not a company contract. They should keep the cards in their personal possession.
Those involved in the process will undoubtedly feel obligated to fulfill the promise, and motivated to be able to report back positively at the next meeting. Having made the promise in company with others in the group will add to their feeling of social acceptance of the value of the promise.
At the follow-up meeting, there should be no penalties or criticism for failing to live up to the promise.
Safe Behavior Promise Card
I promise to . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .every day. Check to see that I am keeping my promise on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .(date).
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